Geovanni preaches good life at Hull City

While Brazil were making heavy weather of their recent World Cup qualifiers,
Wednesday’s stalemate with Colombia prompting calls for the manager’s head,
one of their countrymen was enjoying a more serene existence, preaching to
his flock in the north of England.

Full of life: Geovanni preaches the good life up NorthPhoto: MARTIN POPE

By Alan Smith

9:36PM BST 17 Oct 2008

There’s a bit more to Geovanni, it seems, than a knack for scoring spectacular goals, the sort that take the breath away whoever you support. First against Arsenal, Hull City’s clever ball-player stunned the Emirates with a quite astonishing strike, before moving across north London the following week to compound Tottenham’s woes with a brilliant free-kick.

All that after notching Hull’s first ever goal in the Premier League, another fantastic finish, this time against Fulham on the opening day. Whatever happens from here, Humberside isn’t likely to forget the little Brazilian. Already, he has woven his way into local affections, not to mention the history of this newly-promoted club.

Ask him for an explanation and Geovanni, without hesitating, gives thanks to God, the reason, he says, for all his good fortune. After coming to the end in the summer of a one-year agreement at Manchester City as part of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s great recruitment drive, the 28-year-old’s contract wasn’t renewed. Consequently, he didn’t have a clue what would happen next.

“I wanted to stay in England because I have acclimatised here now,” he explained yesterday at Hull’s training ground. “It was my dream to play here and God realised my dream and allowed me to stay.”

Yet his religious beliefs extend a bit further than singing a few hymns on a Sunday morning. Walk into a certain Pentecostal church in a borough of Manchester and you might just see a professional footballer addressing the congregation.

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“I am one of the pastors there,” he says, as if it is the most natural thing in the world. “I go up to the front and speak to the people. My wife does as well.” In Brazil he had enrolled on a college course to attain the necessary qualifications.

“I started worshipping God when I was about 16. I was quite an unhappy person back then, I think. There was something missing in my life. There was an emptiness in my heart. That was filled by God.”

Much happier with his lot, the teenager progressed through the ranks at Brazilian club Cruzeiro to play for the first team under Luiz Felipe Scolari (“a big influence in my life”) before moving to Europe where both Barcelona and Benfica rated him highly enough to part in turn with £11?million.

To start off with, it looked very promising at the Nou Camp, where Geovanni earned man-of-the-match plaudits on his debut. Brazil, by this time, were taking more and more of an interest and after starring for his country in the 2000 Olympics, this classic No?10 looked set for a glowing international career.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite materialise. Not yet anyway. But given his form at a high-flying Premier League club, Geovanni is hoping the call will come soon.

“Everyone wants to play for their country. If I keep on playing how I am, then I think my opportunity is coming, especially if Hull stay in this position.

“I was sad I couldn’t stay at Manchester City, but I am thankful I have the opportunity here now. I have to thank Phil Brown [the manager] and Brian Horton [Brown’s assistant] because they put trust in me. That’s why I’m happy and I think the club is happy with me too.”

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t know much about Hull when Brown first showed an interest.

“I looked the place up on the internet, found out some information,” he says with a smile. “I looked on the map to see where the city was.” By that time, after seeing the team grab glory on television in the Championship play-off final, he didn’t need telling where the club was heading next.

But who could have possibly foreseen this? Going into tomorrow’s home game with West Ham, Hull stand in a nose-bleed inducing third place in the table.

Nobody, of course, is getting over-excited. Not even the player more responsible than most for quickening the pulse.

“How will we do this season? I want to give this answer in December. From here until December it gets very tough, more physical with a bit of push and shove, so if we can keep doing well through that period it will help us very much. At Manchester City we were high in the table at the start of last season but sank down after December.”

Geovanni knows anyway he would be foolish to take things for granted under the present regime. A few games back, Brown felt compelled to drop his playmaker, only to be delighted by the humble response. Reinstated for the Arsenal match, Geovanni didn’t just produce that remarkable strike, he 'bloomed like a flower’ according to his boss, following up that display with something similar at White Hart Lane.

“During my career I’ve scored a lot of spectacular goals but that one at Arsenal, I think it will be on the DVD of my very best ones. And I practise those free-kicks all the time. I try to work hard, do everything right, exactly how the coaches say.

“Last season I was a little bit sad because I didn’t play so much, but all the happiness has come back now. I want to say thanks to the Lord, not just for giving me football but for the health of my family, of my friends and also to thank England for giving me a life here.”

The pleasure’s all ours, I’m sure. Lately, it’s been something of a blessing.